Needle-actuating device for knitting-machines.



' PATEN'TED MAY 26,1903.

FRANK .ZIASHER,

I F. LASHER. NEEDLE AGTUATING DEVICE FOR KNITTING MACHINES. APPLICATION FIL EDAUG. 25, 1899.

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IN YENTUR BY zmmunzumj 1 UN'TTED STATES Patented May'26, 1903.

PATENT 7 OFFICE.

FRANK LASHER, OF BENNINGTON, VERMONT.

NEEDLE 'ACTUATING DEVICE FOR KNITTING-*MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 729,075, dated May 26, 1903. Application filed August 25, 1899. Serial No. 728,470. (No model- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK LASHER, a citi- Z'en of the United States of America, and a resident of the village of Bennington, in the county of Bennington and State of Vermont, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knitting-Needle-Actuating Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention embraces improvements in the construction of circular-knitting machines, and relates more especially to novel features in the construction, combination, and mode of operation of rotating needle-cylinders, needles, needle-actuating jacks, and needle-actuating cams.

This invention is applicable to machines in which each needle has an independent longitudinal movement in its groove in the needle-bed and is connected with a driver which also occupies the same groove and is variously known as a bit or jack, which has a shank, wing, or lug which projects beyond the surface of the needle-bed by or through which it is driven by cams over which said lugs pass in contact or from a closed cam-race in which they travel. In some machines the needle-bed is stationary and the cams move over the jacks and in others the cams are stationary and the needle-jacks move over the cams. Myinvention is equally applicable to either of these systems. Hence in this specification I will only describe said improvements as applied to a machine in which the cams are stationary and the needies move. These improvements are also applicable to straight knitting without essential modification, and therefore I do not limit myself in this patent to any construction which will confine me to either class of knitting-machines nor to either stationary or movable actuatiug-cams. Where such jacks and needles are connected in any of the usual ways and are adapted to slide in the grooves of the needle-cylinder, it is not practicable to use any means for confining the jack to its seat in the bottom of the groove which will be in the path of the projecting shank of the jack as it follows the sinuosities of the cams or of the cam-race, and forthat reason elastic spring-bands have proved about the only practicable device for retaining the jacks and aids in displacing the jacks.

needles in their workingpositions in the cyl .out of the grooves by the centrifugal force generated by a rapidly-revolving cylinder.

With such slender means to confine the needle-jacks in the grooves it often happens that they work up out of their correct positions by reason of the needles becoming bent, dirt working under them, or, as sometimes happens, the drag of the fabric on the needles To avoid the accidents and defective operation due to such construction Where it is desirable to run the machines at a rate of speed at all remunerative,it has been necessary to provide a closed continuous race in which the jack-shanks run and from .which it is impossible to displace them; but there are manifest disadvantages and very serious objections to the use of the closed cam-race. The cylinder is entirely covered over that portion occupied by the needle-jacks, thereby preventing easy access for the change or replacement of bent or broken needles or the examination or straightening of bent or jammed cylinder-grooves.

Besides, the cost of manufacture of therclosed race is much greater than that of sectional cam-races, the latter being much cheaper, easier of adjustment, and may be entirely removed and replaced without difficulty. The gaps between the sections expose the whole surface ofxthej cylinder, thus affording facilities for removing forfst raightening bent needies or repairing damaged grooves in the cylinder; but.hitherto sectional cams have not been available, for the reason that if a jack got out of itstrue position in its groove either by dropping down, working up above its normal path, or springing out of its groove when it was carried-along to the mouth of the next cam-section its edge or. some one of its corners would catch against the corner of the month of the cam-race, and the result of this collision would bea smash of thejack ora jam in the grooves of the cylinder, or both.

To make provisions for securing the use of sectional jack-cams, with their manifold ad-' vantages over closed cam-races, for protecting'and preserving the integrity of the nee dles and jacks to enable much finer needles too to be used and to promote a much higher rate of speed in the operation of the machines are the leading objects of this invention.

The invention is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1 shows a cross-section taken on a plane of the axis of revolution of a needlecylinder, showing the needle and jackin their lowest normal position. Fig. 2 exhibits a section of the surface of a needle-cylinder unfolded, showing the position occupied by the needles and jacks in the process of taking in a feed and forming a stitch. Fig. 3 is a section of the cylinder and cam-stand, showing a needle sprung out from its lowest working position. Fig. 4 is a section of a cylinder and cam-stand, showing a needle sprung out from its lowest possible position, the jack resting on the retaining spring-band. Fig. 5 is a section of the cylinder and cam-stand, showing the needle-jack in position under the draw-down cam. Fig. 6 is a section of a needle-cylinder and cam-stand, showing a needie-jack of ordinary construction with sharp square corners and cams with similar corners and shows how collision between the edges and corners of the jack and the corners of the cams occur when the jack is sprung up out of its groove. The view is taken as the jack is entering the mouth of the cam-race, its lower corner I; first engaging the upper surface of the incline of the cam F- at the point w and then sliding up until its upper corner 8 strikes against the lower horizontal corner of the cam H, at which point further advance of the needle-cylinder effects a shearing in two of the jack or a general smash. Fig. 7 is a top edge, and Fig. 8 is a face view, of the jackactuating cams.

This invention relates to improvements upon the needle-cylinders, needles, needlejacks, and actuating-cams shown in my pending application, Serial No. 643,950, filed July 9, 1897.

The principle underlying this invention is to chamfer or round off all edges and corners of both movable and stationary parts of jacks and cams which in the operation of the machine may collide when used in connection with a broken or sectional cam-race. Applying this principle to the mouth of the camrace all the corners opposed to the approaching needle-jack are rounded or chamfered back, so as to leave the mouth of trumpet or funnel shape, so that if even a square corner of a needle-jack should contact with a cam out of its correct position for engagement the chamfered corner of the cam edge or its beveled entering face would wedge the jack back into its correct position, or conversely, if the edges and corners of the body of the jack be similarly chamfered 01' rounded and such a jack be used with a race in which the corners and edges of the cams are square then the beveled or rounded corners of the jack will operate in like manner to crowd the jack and needle back into their true positions; but if both cams and jacks are correspondingly or appositely beveled then the mutual backward-crowding action set up by forcing them into collision inevitably drives the jack home to its correct working position in the cylinder-groove and all danger of breakage or defective performance of the true function of both needle and jack is practically eliminated. The difierence between these jacks and those in common use consists in their being made very short, so as to enable their entire length to enter between the funnelshaped throatway of the cam-races, so that if they become displaced in any way they will collide with the walls of the throatway by the extremities of their bodies and not by their shanks, which travel in the cam-races. Hence instead of adapting the driving-shank of the jack and the walls of the mouth of the cam-race to each other for guiding purposes the provisions to that end are transferred to the extreme upper and lower corners of the body part of the jack. By these means the shanks are fully protected against wear and collision with the walls of the races and their perfect integrity and working edges are preserved,whereby their life is greatly prolonged, and in action each jack is forced to its correct working position in the needle-groove before the shank reaches an operative position in the cam-race. These characteristics are believed to be unlike any heretofore used.

By the use of this improvement it becomes entirely feasible to use sectional cam-races, thereby leaving clear unobstructed intervals between them on circular-knitting machines. This contributes to the use of a greater number of feeds on the same machine and also to the running of the machines at a much higher rate of speed.

Referring to Fig. 1, a portion of the table of a knitting-machine is shown at A. Within a large central bore in this table runs a spurgear B, upon which the needle-cylinder D is mounted and to which it is rigidly attached, so as to run therewith, by means of the clam ping concentric ring 0, held by screw-bolts, as shown. The upper interior edge of the opening in the table is counterbored to receive the guard-ring T, which has an upturned flange which comes up under the bottoms of the needle-grooves and prevents the dropping of the jacks when the spring-band P is withdrawn for any purpose. The cam-stands E, which are made concentric with the cylinder, are provided with a concentric rib e, which rests within the counterbore of the table and eifects correct adj ustinent of the stands. The cam-stands are sections of a conical shell, to the concave side of which the cams shown in Fig. 8 are attached. Of these the first in order is the lifting-cam 1, and above and beyond this is the draw-down cam 2. The jacks move toward these cams in the direction of the arrow. The outer end of cam 1 has its surface beveled away or rounded, as at O, which, with the incline F, answers for all lift- ITO ing purposes. The front of the upper cam 2 is correspondingly beveled, as at J, for the like purposes. Its under side is also beveled, as at H, so that if the jack happens to have worked in its groove too high the shank of the jack will be caught by that beveled slope and be by it drawn down to a position where by the movement of the needle-cylinder it will be carried along into its proper channel between the upper and lower cams. At'the same time if the jack has been sprung out of its groove at a high elevation its upper beveled corner m will engage the bevel J and by it be forced down to its seat in the cylindergroove. The cylinder D is grooved in the usual manner for the reception of the needles N and jacks K. The combination of this particular needle and jack possesses some novelties. The jack is designed in the form of a T, the cross-head forming the body of the jack and the stem L forming the shank, which travels in the cam-race. The upper half of the body portion is slotted down to the middle of the shank, where the slot turns outwardly at a right angle a short distance toward the center of the shank. This slot, of L shape, receives the butt of the needle N, which is bent to conform to its shape and fits it closely. The body of the needle is then bent down over the top of the upper'inner half of the body of the shank to a position where its inner surface will be in line with the back edge of the body of the jack. Thus when the needle and jack are connected by means of this slot and inserted in their proper position in the needle-groove both will rest evenly on the bottom of the groove. The offset in the needle formed by the bend 0 also under certain circumstances contributes in forcing the jacks into their positions in the grooves in cases where they have been so far sprung out of their normal positions between the cam-stands or in traversing the interval between two stands and at such an elevation that the lower part of the body will not ongage the rising slope of cam 1 before the upper part might strike the end of cam 2. In such a case the bend a will engage the bevel J, by which the needle itself will be forced back, carrying with it the jack, to a position where the shank will engage the slope H of the upper cam, which will draw down the jack to its proper position in the cam-race. The upper and lower outer corners of the body of the jack are beveled or rounded oi, as at m and n, and the edges of the same parts may be slightly rounded, if necessary, to enable them to slide over the corners of the cams with the least possible resistance. Thus it will be seen that with the corners and edges of both the cams and of the jacks beveled or rounded it becomes practically impossible for the corners or any other part of the needle-jack to catch upon a corner of a cam at however high a rate of speed the machine may be running.

By making the slot in the jack for the recepti'on of the butt of the needle in the center of its width a bearing the whole length of the bottom edge of the jack is secured, which gives it a steadier movement. Furthermore, by reason of the body of the needle lying in the described. slot the needle is supported both in front and rear, so that it cannot incline out of its proper position, and the alinement of the needle and the jack may be more effectually preserved. It will be observed that the bend or offset 0 in-the needle and the bevel m of the upper outer corner of the jack are practicallyin line, so that taken together they constitute a common slope for the purposes before explained.

I therefore claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, the followmg:

1. In a knitting-machine, a grooved needlebed and a series of independently-movable needles, a corresponding series of needle-actuating jacks each of which has a projecting lug or shank with which jacks the needles are detachably coupled, a jack-actuating cam-race into and out of which said jack-shanks are adapted to enter and emerge, the mouth of said raceway through which the jack-shanks enter the same being flared outwardly wherever the body of the entering jack might collide with said mouth, substantially as specified.

2. In a knitting-machine, a grooved needlebed and a series of independently-movable needles, a corresponding series of needle-actuating jacks each of which has a projecting lug or shank with which jacks the needles are do tachably coupled, a jack-actuating cam-race into and out of which said jack-shanks are adapted to enter and emerge, the bodies of said jacks being beveled or rounded at their corners and edges wherever collision between their bodies and the cam-race is liable to occur, the combination being adapted to operate substantially in the manner specified.

3. The combination in a knitting-machine of the character described, with a needle-cylinder and needles of jacks adapted to detachably couple with and actuate the needles, and a jack-actuating raceway fitted with camfaces to impart to the jacks appropriate vertical motions; the entering mouth of said raceway being flared and the corners and edges of the jack-bodies being correspondingly beveled or rounded at those points where collision between the two would occur if a jack should happen from any cause to be out of its correct position.

4. In a knitting-machine the combination of a needle-cylinder and needles, jacks for the needles having beveled ends independent of the driving-shanks, and a flaring cam adapted to engage a jack by its body when displaced and force it into correct position preparatory to the driving-shank entering the cam-race.

- 5. As an improvement in sectional camraces for cylinder knitting-machines, a pair of guides which extend in a concentric direction beyond the mouth of the cam-raceway proper in which the j ack-shanks travel, said guides having their operative edges sufficiently divergent vertically from the mouth of the cam-raceway to compass the entire vertical length of the needle-jack, said guiding extensions being beveled at their extremities on their interior faces outwardly sufficiently to gather in a vertically or radially displaced jack by its outward-protruding body-corner, in combination with a series of relatively short needle-jacks, each of which has its top and bottom corners rounded or beveled to cooperate with said beveled guides as a provision for forcing the jacks to their correct operative positions in the cylinder-grooves before the jack-shanks reach the opening of the camraceway proper, substantially as specified.

6. The combination with the needle-cylinder and needles, of the actuating-cam 1 having the flaring projection O, and the jack K having the rounded or beveled under corner 11. substantially as specified.

7. The combination with the needle-cylin der and needles of the actuating-cam 2 having the flaring projection H J, and the jack K having the rounded or beveled upper corner m, substantially as specified.

8. The combination with the needle-cylinder and needles, of the actuating-cams 1 and 2 having the respective flaring projections O and H J, and the jack K having the rounded or beveled corners n and m substantially as specified.

9. The combination with the needle-cylinder, of the T-shaped jack slotted for the needle as shown, the needle with butt adapted to couple with said jack and having an ofiset from the rear margin of the slot to the rear edge of the jack, and means applied to the needles alone in connection with the cylinder for holding both needle and jack in place during the operation of the machine, substantially as specified.

Signed by me at Bennington, Vermont, this 19th day of August, 1899.

FRANK LASHER.

Witnesses:

EMILY SCOTT, FRANKLIN soon. 

